Automatic pinfall detecting apparatus for bowling game



Aug. 2, 1966 c, WEBB 3,263,997

AUTOMATIC PINFALL DETECTING APPARATUS FOR BOWLING GAME Filed Aug. 30,1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L M55 INVENTOR. 3 17 [AP/V557 c WEBB 2, 1966 E. c.WEBB 3,263,997

AUTOMATIC PINFALL DETECTING APPARATUS FOR BOWLING GAME Filed Aug. 30,1963 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 AMPL IF/EP SWBTIPACT/O/V INVENTOR.

JTTOPNEY United States Patent 3,263,997 AUTOMATIC PINFALL DETECTINGAPPARATUS FOR BOWLING GAME Ernest C. Webb, Bay Village, Ohio, assignorto Cleveland Trust Company, Cleveland, Ohio, as trustee Y Filed Aug. 30,1963, Ser. No. 305,593 3 Claims. (Cl. 273-54) This invention relates toapparatus for automatically detecting the number of pins which remainstanding on a pin deck after each ball is delivered in a bowling game.More particularly, the invention relates to bowling pin detectingapparatus in which no modification need be made to the pins themselvesin order to detect them.

As is known, various systems have been proposed for detecting standingpins on a bowling alley pin deck by providing electrically detectabledevices in the pins together with apparatus for detecting those devices.For example, in copending application Serial No. 134,809, filedSeptember 7, 1961, pinfall detecting apparatus is described in which thenumber of pins knocked down by each ball is determined first producing anumber of electrical impulses corresponding to the number of pins leftstanding, and thereafter using those impulses to produce a number ofsignals equal to ten minus the number of aforesaid pulses. This isaccomplished in accordance with the said application by providing meansin the top or bottom of each pin which can be detected electrically by aproximity device movable along a horizontal plane slightly above thetops or bClOlW the bottoms of standing pins and adapted to produce animpulse by passing over the top or under the bottom of any standing pin.For example, the means in the top or bottom of each pin may comprise apermanent magnet, and the proximity device may comprise an electricalcoil assembly, the arrangement being such that the coil assembly willcut through the lines of flux produced by the permanent magnets wherebya current impulse is induced in the coil assembly each time it passesover or under a standing pin. The permanent magnets of fallen pins,however, cannot affect the coil and, hence, will not produce currentimpulses. By using the current impulses in electrical subtractioncircuitry, a number of electrical signals can be obtained equal to tenminus the number of current impulses produced by the coil assembly,these signals being equal in number to the number of fallen pins.

While the system described above performs exceptionally well for itsintended purpose and, in contrast to prior art devices, can detectstanding pins which slide on the pin deck .and are not correctlyspotted, the use of electrically detectable devices such as metal slugsor the like in bowling pins for detection purposes may be consideredundesirable under certain circumstances.

Accordingly, as one object, the present invention seeks to providebowling pin detecting apparatus in which the pins are detected withoutproviding any metallic or the like devices in the pins themselves, whileat the same time facilitating detection of standing pins which are notcorrectly spotted.

More generally, an object of the invention is to provide new andimproved standing pin detecting apparatus wherein the pins are detectedby physical contact with a detecting element.

Another object of the invention is to provide standing pin detectingelements which make physical contact with the pins, but which minimizeany possibility of a wobbling pin being accidentally knocked over bysuch physical contact.

A further object of the invention is to provide pinfall detectingapparatus for a bowling game capable of producing electrical signalswhich may be used in an autoinatic scoring, totalizing, indicatingand/or printing sys- In accordance with the invention, the apparatus fordetecting standing pins comprises a member movable along a substantiallyhorizontal path past the tops of standing bowling pins, at least onepair of resilient, generally vertical devices carried on said member andarranged to engage the top of a pin as the member passes the pin, theresilient devices being of electrical conducting material and arrangedsuch that the one resilient device will be deflected in .a generallyhorizontal direction to contact the other resilient device when themember passes the top of a standing pin, and electrical circuit meansconnected to said resilient devices such that an electrical circuit willbe completed to indicate the existence of a standing pin when oneresilient device contacts the other. Preferably, the resilient devicescomprise parallel rows of vertically-disposed, wire-like elementscarried on the aforesaid member transverse to its path of travel suchthat the wire-like elements in one row will engage the top of a standingpin and be deflected in a generally horizontal direction to contactthose in the other row when the member passes the top of the standingpin. By virtue of the light weight and resilient character of the rowsof wire-like elements, very little possibility exists of knocking over apin when they contact the top of that pin, even though it be wo bling.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying dnawings Which form a part of this specification,and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top view of a bowling alley pin deck showing one manner inwhich the pin detecting devices of the invention can be swept along ahorizontal path across the tops of pins;

FIG. '2 is a plan view of the bowling alley pin deck of FIG. 1 showingthe relative locations of the pin deck, pins and pin detecting elements;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of one of the pin detecting elements ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4A is a broken away view of the wire-like assembly used in the pindetector of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a view, similar to that of FIG. 4, showing the deflection inthe resilient wire-like members of the pin detecting device of FIGS. 3.and 4 when they contact the end of a pin to be detected;

FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of the means for convertingelectrical signals indicative of the number of standing pins intosignals indicative of the number of fallen pins; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view, similar to that of FIG. 2, but of an alternativeform of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, aconventional bowling alley pin deck 11 is shown having ten pinspositioned thereon in the usual triangular configuration and numbered :1through 10. On either side of the pin deck 1d are gutters 12 and 14,while behind the pin deck '11 is a pit 16. On either side of the pindeck 11 are kick-backs 18 and 20 which serve, among other things, toseparate adjacent bowling alleys. Extending between the kickbacks 18 and20 is a facing board 22 which, in accordance with the usual bowlingalley construction, covers an automatic pin-spotter and its associatedmechanism in its raised position, but does not extend down far enoughtoward the alley to obstruct the view of the pins positioned thereon.The outline of the pin-spotter is shown in FIG. 1 by the broken line 24.

Above the pins 1-10 positioned on the pin deck 11 is a bar or rod-likemember 26 which extends parallel to the long transverse dimension of thebowling alley and is adapted to be moved across the tops of the pinsalong a substantially horizontal path which extends transverse tothe'long transverse dimension of the bowling alley. The member 26 isswept across the ends of pins 110 in the embodiment of the inventionshown in FIG. 1 by means of amechanism which is the subject of copendingapplication Serial No. 199,063, filed May 31, 1962, and now Patent No.3,185,477. For a full and detailed description of the traversingmechanism, reference may be had to the aforesaid patent; however forpurposes of the present application it will be sufiicient to state thatthe member 26 is suspended from a carriage 28 in cantilever beamrelationship, the carriage 28 being movable along guideways or tracks 30and 32 both located at the forward end of the pin-spotter 24 andextending between the kickbacks 18 and 20. At opposite ends of theguideways 30 and 32 are rolls 34 and 36, extending around the rolls 34and 36 is a taut band 38 of spring steel or the like. This band isconnected, at one point along its length, to the carriage 28, thearrangement being such that as the band moves around the rolls 34 and36, the carriage 28 and the member 26 carried thereby will be caused totraverse the pin deck 11. A motor 40 is employed to rotate the roll 36and thus cause the band 68 to move around rolls 34 and 36 in a mannerwhich is more fully explained in the aforesaid Patent No. 3,185,477. Theimportant point, for purposes of the present invention, is that themember 26 is suspended from carriage 28 in cantilever beam relationshipand is moved transversely across the alley from one side to the otheralong the tracks or guideways 30 and 32.

With reference now to FIG. 2, it will be noted that spaced along thelength of the bar or rod-like member 26 are four pin detecting devices'42, 44, 46 and 48. The [first pin detecting device 42 extends from apoint slightly in front of the number 1 pin to a point slightly in frontof the row of pins comprising pins 2 and 3. As this pin detecting device42 moves across the pin deck 11, it traverses a zoned area identified asZone I in FIG. 1. The second pin detecting device 44 extends from apoint slightly in front of the row of pins comprising pins -2 and 3 to apoint slightly in front of the row of pins comprising pins 4, 5 and 6.The area traversed by the pin detecting device 44, therefore, isidentified as Zone II in FIG. 1. The third pin detecting device 46extends from a point slightly in front of the third row of pins (-i.e.,pins 4, 5 and 6) to a point slightly in 'front of the fourth row of pinsand traverses Zone III identified in FIG. 1. Finally, the fourth pindetecting device 48 extends from a point slightly in front of the fourthrow of pins to the trailing edge of the pin deck and traverses an areaidentified as Zone 1V in FIG. 1,

The necessity for a plurality of zones will be appreciated when it isremembered that it is necessary to produce a single and separateelectrical signal for each standing pin on the deck 11. It can be seenfrom FIG. 1 that the number 1 pin is directly in front of the number 5pin. Similarly, the number 2 pin is directly in front of the number 8pin, and the number 3 pin is directly in front of the number 9 pin. If asingle pin detecting device of the type hereinafter described were sweptacross the tops of the pins, a single electrical signal would beproduced for both of the pins 2 and 8, both of the pins 1 and 5, andboth of the pins 3 and 9, meaning that if all pins were standing, onlyseven electrical signals would be produced by the single pin detectingdevice; whereas it is desired to produce ten signals. With thearrangement shown herein, however, none of the pins in any zone arealigned with other pins in that same zone so that the cumulative numberof signals produced by the four pin detecting devices will always beten, assuming that all of the pins are left standing. Of course, ifcertain ones of the pins are knocked down after a ball is delivered,

only the cumulative number of signals corresponding to the number ofpins left standing will be produced by the pin detecting devices.Furthermore, even though certain ones of the pins may slide backward onthe deck to positions where they are directly in front of the otherpins, the correct number of signals will always be produced.

To illustrate, suppose that the number 4 .pin slides to a position whereit is directly in front of the number 7 pin. Under these circumstances,two electrical signals will still be produced for the number 4 and 7pins, with the signal for the number 4 pin being produced by detectingdevice 46 while the signal for pin number 7 is produced by detectingdevice 48. Thus, the apparatus shown provides a means whereby a singlecurrent impulse will be produced by one of the detecting devices 42-48for each standing pin even though certain ones of the pins may slidefrom their correctly-spotted positions.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the pin detecting device 42 is shown, itbeing understood that the other pin detecting devices are identical inconstruction. Secured to the bottom of the bar or member 26 by means ofrivets 50 or other suitable fastening means is an insulating block 52.Cast within the blocks 52 are copper or other electrically-conductingmetal strips 54, one of the strips being shown in FIG. 4A before it iscast into the insulating block 52. As shown, there are two strips 54 inthe insulating block 52 which are parallel to each other and alsoparallel to the bar 26. Soldered or otherwise securely fastened to thestrips 54 are downward1ydepending wires or whiskers 56 of electricalconducting material which, in effect, form a comb or brush as best shownin FIG. 3. The whiskers 56 are of sufficient stiffness and resiliency soas to be normally separated as shown in FIG. 4. When, however, the bar26 passes over the top of a pin 58 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the one rowof whiskers 56 will be deflected so as to contact the other row. Byconnecting each strip 54 and its associated whiskers 56 to electricalleads 60 and 62, it will be appreciated that the whiskers 56 act, ineffect, as a switch between the leads 60 and 62 when they pass over thetop of a standing pin and one row of whiskers is deflected to contactthe other.

FIG. 6 shows the manner in which the whiskers 56 may be connected to anelectrical circuit which indicates the existence of a standing pin whenthe whiskers pass over the top of that pin. Thus, the leads 60 and 62are connected to an amplifier 64 which, in turn, is connected throughlead 66 to a subtraction circuit 68 which may, for example, be of thetype shown in copending application Serial No. 175,865, filed February9, 1962. The amplifier 64 is used to permit a relatively low voltagebetween leads 60 and 62 and thereby prevent arcing. An amplifier similarto amplifier 64 is provided for the other pin detecting devices 44, 46and 48 and is connected to the subtraction circuit 68 through leads 70,the arrangement being such that a number of pulses equal to the numberof standing pins will appear on leads 66 and 70. These pulses aresubtracted from ten in subtraction circuit 68 to produce a number ofpulses on lead 72 equal to the number of fallen pins. In this manner, asthe bar 26 passes over the tops of standing pins on pin deck 11, anumber of pulses will be produced on lead 72 equal to the number offallen pins.

When the bar 26 passes over the tops of the standing pins, certain onesof those pins may wobble for the reason that the pin detection cycletakes place with the bar sweeping across the tops of the pinsimmediately after a ball is delivered in each frame of the game. In anypin detecting system wherein the pins are physically contacted, caremust be taken to avoid knocking over the pins during the detectionprocess. By using the rows of wire-like elements or whiskers 56,however, a minimum amount of pressure is applied to the pins during thedetection cycle and very little possibility exists of their beingknocked over, eevn though they may be wobbling.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 7 wherein threepinfall detecting devices 74, 76 and 78 are carried on the bar 26 ratherthan the four devices shown in FIG. 2. In this latter case, the firstpinfall detecting device extends from a point slightly ahead of thenumber 1 pin to a point slightly ahead of the 4, 5, 6 row of pins. Inelfect, therefore, the pinf-all detecting device 74 combines thefunctions of devices 42 and 44 shown in FIG. 2. In certain cases, thesingle pin detecting device 74 may suflice for the reason that if thenumber 1 pin is struck by a ball it will almost invaribly be knockeddown rather than slide. Of course, for maximum reliability, theembodiment of FIG. 2 should be employed.

Although the invention has been shown in connection with certainspecific embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and arrangement of parts may bemade to siut requirements without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. In this respect, it will be understood thatdownwardly-depending elements, either flexible or rigid, may bepiovtally connected to the underside of member 26 as a substitute forthe wires 56. In this latter case, the downwardly-depending elementswill be electrically conducting such that upon passage over a pin, theone element will strike the top of the pin and will rotate about itspivotal connection to the member 26 to engage the other element whichwill then also rotate about its pivotal connection and pass over thepin. In this process, contact of the one element with the other willcomplete a circuit to indicate the existence of the standing pin.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a bowling pin standing on a bowling alley pin deck, amember movable along a substantially horizontal path past an end of saidpin, a pair of resilient generally vertical devices of equal verticallength carried on said member and arranged to engage the end of the pinas said member passes the end of the pin such that one resilent devicewill be deflected in a generally horizontal direction to contact theother resilient device when the member passes said end of the pin, saidresilient devices being electrically conducting, and electrical circuitmeans connected to said devices such that an electrial circuit will becompleted to indicate the existence of a standing pin when said onedevice contacts the other, the resilient devices forming switch contactsin the circuit means independently of any auxiliary switches.

2. In combination, a bowling pin standing on a bowling alley pin deck, amember movable along a substantially horizontal path past an end of saidpin, parallel rows of vertically-disposed wire-like elements carried onsaid member such that the wire-like elements in one row will engage theend of said pin and be deflected to contact those in the other row whenthe member passes the end of the standing pin, the wire-like elements inthe respective rows being of equal vertical length, and electricalcircuit means connected to said parallel rows such that an electricalcircuit will be completed to indiacte the existance of the standing pinwhen the wire-like elements in one row contact those in the other rowupon passage past the end of the pin, said wire-like elements whichcontact the pin acting as switch contacts in said electrical circuit.

3. In combination, a bowling pin standing on a bowling alley pin deck, amember movable along a substantially horizontally path past an end ofsaid pin, a pair of generally vertical devices of equal vertical lengthcarried on said member and arranged to engage the end of the pin as saidmember passes the end of the pin such that one device will be deflectedin a generally horizontal direction to contact the other device when themember passes said end of the pin, said devices being electricallyconducting, and electrical circuit means connected to said devices suchthat an electrical circuit will be completed to indiate the existence ofthe standing pin when said one device contacts the other, the verticaldevices which engage the end of the pin acting as switch contacts insaid electrical circuit means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,226,930 12/1940Hefele ZOO-61.44 X 2,270,687 1/ 1942 Morse 200'-61.44 3,017,618 1/1962Cross 2006l.41 X

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Examiner.

2. IN COMBINATION, A BOWLING PIN STANDING ON A BOWLING ALLEY PIN DECK, AMEMBER MOVABLE ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PATH PAST AN END OF SAIDPIN, PARALLEL ROWS OF VERTICALLY-DISPOSED WIRE-LIKE ELEMENTS CARRIED ONSAID MEMBER SUCH THAT THE WIRE-LIKE ELEMENTS IN ONE ROW WILL ENGAGE THEEND OF SAID PIN AND BE DEFLECTED TO CONTACT THOSE IN THE OTHER ROW WHENTHE MEMBER PASSES THE END OF THE STANDING PIN, THE WIRE-LIKE ELEMENTS INTHE RESPECTIVE ROWS BEING OF EQUAL VERTICAL LENGTH, AND ELECTRICALCIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID PARALLEL ROWS SUCH THAT AN ELECTRICALCIRCUIT WILL BE COMPLETED TO INDICATE THE EXISTENCE OF THE STANDING PINWHEN THE WIRE-LIKE ELEMENTS IN ONE ROW CONTACT THOSE IN THE OTHER ROWUPON PASSAGE PAST THE END OF THE PIN, SAID WIRE-LIKE ELEMENTS WHICHCONTACT THE PIN ACTING AS SWITCH CONTACTS IN SAID ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT.